LAKELAND DISPOSAL SERVICE, INC.

EPA ID# IND064703200
Last Updated: May, 2014

Site Description

Lakeland Disposal Service, Inc., operated a 39-acre sanitary landfill three miles northwest of Claypool in Kosciusko County, Indiana. The landfill was licensed by the Indiana State Board of Health to accept municipal and certain industrial wastes. Beginning in 1974, general refuse and hazardous wastes, including cyanide and sludges containing paint, hydroxides of aluminum and heavy metals, were disposed at the site. In 1978, the Kosciusko County Circuit Court ordered the landfill closed as a result of improper operations. The area has several wetlands, which could be affected by contaminated runoff from the site. There are approximately 1,100 residents living within two miles of the site who rely on private wells for their water supply. Claypool's two municipal wells are located within three miles of the site.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed the site for the National Priorities List (NPL) in June 1988 and finalized the site on the NPL in March 1989.

Site Responsibility

This site is being addressed through federal, state, and potentially responsible parties' actions.

Threats and Contaminants

According to the Indiana State Board of Health records and other information, wastes disposed at the site included at least 18,000 drums of paint sludge, 8,900 tons of plating sludge, and two million gallons of plating sludge containing various hydroxide sludges of aluminum, cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, nickel, tin, selenium, and zinc. Drummed wastes include benzene, 1,1-dichloroethane, 1,2-dichloroethane, ethyl benzene, methylene chloride, toluene, 1,1,1-trichloroethane, trichloroethane, and xylene. Additionally, vinyl chloride, trichloroethane, 1,2-dichloroethene, antimony, and lead were found in groundwater at levels exceeding their established primary drinking water standards. On-site soils are contaminated with heavy metals.

Cleanup Progress

In 1989, Dana Corporation, General Motors Corporation, United Technologies Automotive, Inc., and Warsaw Black Oxide, Inc. signed a Consent Order with EPA and conducted the investigation of site contamination and an evaluation of cleanup alternatives. The remedy that EPA selected in a September 28, 1993, Record of Decision (ROD) includes: fencing and security to prevent unauthorized access; deed restrictions; removal and proper disposal of buried waste in a "hot spot" area; construction and maintenance of a landfill cap and gas collection system; construction of a subsurface slurry wall to prevent groundwater migration from the site; extraction and treatment of the groundwater within the slurry wall; a monitoring program to ensure that the constructed system is operating effectively; and a wetlands assessment with restoration and/or replacement of wetlands affected.

In 1994, EPA issued a Unilateral Administrative Order (UAO) to the above potentially responsible parties (PRPs), including Eaton Corporation, to design and implement the selected cleanup actions. The PRPs completed the Remedial Design (RD). During the RD, an investigation was performed on the "hot spot" area. It was determined that an alternate remedy to remediate the "hot spot" area would be more cost effective than excavation and offsite incineration as specified in the 1993 ROD.

On October 15, 1998, EPA signed a ROD amendment to specify the use of low temperature thermal desorption (LTTD) to treat the "hot spot" area. In August 2000 EPA gave authorization to proceed with the LTTD of the "hot spot" area and the work was completed by the PRPs in May 2001. The Final Remedial Action (RA) construction was completed in September 2002, and EPA signed the Preliminary Close-Out Report on September 26, 2002. The subsurface slurry wall, landfill cap, groundwater extraction and treatment system, wetlands mitigation, and gas system were also completed. EPA conducted the Final Inspection in fall 2004. The PRP is conducting the operation and maintenance (O&M) at the site.

EPA completed the first five-year for the site in August 2005, concluding that the remedy is protective of human health and the environment. EPA completed the second five-year review in May 2010 and found that the remedy remains protective. Site O&M activities are continuing.

In June 2013, EPA participated in a site visit with the PRP contractor, the Indiana Department of Environmental Management, and the County to discuss the transition of wetland maintenance to Kosciusko County.